Mythic Americas Overview
By Chris Masucci
Over the past few years, I have had the pleasure of creating content for a unique game. Among the current fantasy offerings in the tabletop market, the realm of fantasy has been dominated by mostly Euro-centric games set in fantasy lands with humans, elves, and dwarves.
When it comes to games that center upon other areas or cultures outside what we have come to know as the standard fantasy setting, there seems to be a lack of mainstream options. In 2020 Warlord Games launched Mythic Americas, a fantasy game based on the Warlords of Erehwon rules that centers on the Pre-Columbian lands of North and South America.
Instead of choosing from medieval knights and powerful wizards, in Mythic Americas civilizations such as the Tribal Nations, Aztecs and Mayans are front and center. There are no pikemen or flintlock linemen here, instead, players will do battle with Jaguar warriors and Seneca archers. Warbands in Mythic Americas are not only made up of human warriors, fierce beasts, and monsters from native folklore. Creatures like the Wendigo, Quetzalcoatl, and Maras tower over their opponents and can cut through a dozen mortal warriors if not approached by a similar combatant.
Mythic Americas currently features four factions with plans to add four more. Currently, the Tribal Nations, Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas are playable with a full roster of units. Each faction brings a unique flavor and strategy to the field.
The Tribal Nations are skirmishers, with specialized units that excel at hit and run tactics. They are at home when within wooded terrain features, able to claim defensive bonuses and move through the brush with no penalty. Nation magic also centers around manipulating and even creating terrain for friendly warriors to take advantage of. Along with human warriors, the Tribal Nations can call upon creatures such as great eagles, wolves, and even the mighty Wendigo to harry the opponent’s forces.
An Aztec warband on the table usually consists of a core of undead units. The standard Aztec warrior is the Tlālōcān bound dead. A risen corpse in service to the god Tlālloc, the bound dead are weak and fragile. However, in great numbers and while under one of the many beneficial spells of the Tlālōcān high priest, a horde of bound dead can tear through even elite enemy fighters. More specialized Aztec fighters come in the form of Jaguar Warriors, Eagle Warriors, and Tlālōcān Marauders. The Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec god can accompany a warband and cast spells while flying high above the battlefield.
Mayans represent one of the most powerful and elite infantry forces in the world of Mythic Americas. Out of all the core factions Mayans make the most use of armor. Mayan Nobles march to war with massive Macuahuitls and medium armor, making them efficient at dealing out and shrugging off damage. Although outfitted with lighter armor and swords that aren’t so large, the Calakmal Warriors are no pushovers, with the vengeful, vicious, and cause fear rules, the Calakmal are more than capable of holding their own against other faction’s seasoned fighters. The Mayans also bring a large flying monster to the battlefield with the Camazotz. With Dread, Terror, and Baleful Glare, a Camazotz embodies the fearful bat god.
To round out the core factions, the Inca can bring some of the most powerful spellcasters to the field. With both an Oracle and the Inti High Priest, the Incans can cast several spells to hinder their opponents and enhance their friendly warriors. With Inti’s guiding hand Antisuyu Archers can fire at their opponents from behind cover with an enhanced fire attack. Condor Riders and the giant Maras round out their roster with some mythos-inspired models.
When it comes to gameplay, Mythic Americas contains several differences from the standard Warlords of Erehwon missions.
First, there is the concept of The Way. During warband generation, each player must choose to dedicate their warband to either the Ever-Changing or Ever-Living aspect of The Way. This choice determines which spells are available to the warband’s spellcasters and determines which Devotions and which Blessings each warband will use during a game. Devotions act as secondary objectives that are always in play during a mission.
Players will choose which Devotions they want to pursue during a game along with the primary objectives of the current mission. Devotions can vary from territory control to character assassination and completing them will score victory points for the respective player.
Blessings of the Way are also split into two tracks and each player will only have access to the one that matches their Way choice. Blessings are a set of six beneficial effects that can be utilized by players during a game, each player may only use one blessing per turn and effects vary from making a free consolidation move for a single unit, to automatically drawing a friendly dice, to canceling an opponent’s retained run or exchange of missiles effect.
As for the future of Mythic Americas, there is a wealth of new content on the horizon with four additional warbands planned to feature the Inuit, Western Federation, Taino, and Chachapoya. Further units and cultures will be explored in the future as well. Mythic Americas can be found at:
https://www.mythicamericas.com/